


Merlin drabbles: miscellaneous het and gen

by sophinisba



Category: Merlin - Fandom
Genre: Community: writing_game, Drabble Collection, Drabble Sequence, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-03-21
Updated: 2012-06-21
Packaged: 2017-10-11 05:23:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 1,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/108874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophinisba/pseuds/sophinisba
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some drabbles and ficlets written at different times.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Unnamed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin and Morgana

Merlin's first errand upon returning to his post as Gaius' assistant was to bring Morgana the sleeping draught. She took the vial from his hands but said, "I'm not drinking this anymore."

"The nightmares weren't a symptom of your illness. Edwin was making that up."

"I know what they are," she said forcefully. "They're not pleasant, but I don't want them to stop. Say nothing to Gaius."

"Why are you telling me this? I don't keep secrets from Gaius."

"Just from the rest of us then?"

Her smile made his blood cold, and he could only bow and turn away.

*

Not long after that, Morgana had a dream that helped Merlin save Arthur's life. He brought her the medicine once a week and watched her pour it over the latest bunch of flowers.

Sometimes she had him stay, asked about his village, his impressions of Camelot, its Prince and its King.

"Do you ever wish things were different?" she asked once.

"What, that I didn't have to muck out the stables?"

She just looked at him.

"Yes," he said. "I wish things were different. I wish that every day."

"The change won't be long now," she promised. "I've seen it."

*

Still they won't name it. Not when the Druid boy speaks in both their minds, not while they watch Will's body burn, not after Tom and Tauren and a dozen other deaths that leave Arthur looking into the distance and Morgana looking straight into Merlin's eyes.

He never meets her gaze, never answers her jibes, only thanks her respectfully and does his best to stay out of her way. Knowledge hangs between them like a sword on a string.

Then one day she says, "Stop worrying, Merlin. When it happens, I'll be the one to take the blame, not you."


	2. Done Dreaming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for claudia603's prompt "Gwen Lancelot magic"

I'm  
done dreaming  
about Arthur or  
Merlin making me moan.  
I found my own knight  
when he called me his lady.  
Then he left to wander the kingdom  
while I wait here wondering in the night.  
There's a need where he should be, an ache  
that my fingers don't soothe and my fantasies don't fill.  
But he'll return to the circle of my arms  
as all roads circle back to my castle.  
I am no lady waiting for rescue.  
I am no witch casting spells.  
I call him without magic  
but he hears me.  
When I come  
he comes  
home.


	3. Testimony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing-game prompts: Trial, Witch/Wizard, Avenge

After, his relatives took him deep into the forest and said nothing of kings and castles, grief or revenge. "We will keep to the old ways, and we will keep to ourselves," they said, as if he hadn't seen his own father tried and executed only for _being_ himself.

He bowed his head and listened and learned, and he grew strong and powerful with the years. Then he spoke aloud, "In Camelot there is a son who betrayed his father, and there is a wizard who betrayed his people. Who will seek justice?"

In his mind Morgana answered, _I will._


	4. The Motive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mordred

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing-game prompt: Mystery

There's no question as to who, for the dreams are quite clear: the hand on the dagger is her own. The where is familiar, the when uncertain, but the mystery that haunts her is the why.

She'd had her motives once before, and she'd decided they weren't enough. She'd had her opportunity as well, and she'd fought not to have to take it.

So what's going to change, she wonders? What will push her once again beyond the knife's edge? Is it for Gwen, for Merlin, for Camelot, for herself? Is it for good or ill? Must it be forever?


	5. Years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing-game prompt: Years

One thing he's learned from a short lifetime in a small village is that year follows year and very little changes. There's planting and Beltane, there's harvest and taxes, there's winter and hunger. Each year Merlin grew taller and the lines of worry on his mother's face grew deeper.

The people of Camelot depend on the land but do not live its rhythm. It's been a year since Merlin arrived and now Arthur is crown prince, Gwen is an orphan, Morgana is a murderer in her heart. And Merlin is not the boy he was, can never circle home again.


	6. Illumination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gwen and Merlin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing-game prompt: Epiphany

It wasn't any single thing she saw or a word he said. She was sitting alone sewing at the open window when the bright certainty spread over her like sunshine. She had an urge to run to tell Morgana and an urge to shout it from the battlements, but she knew she'd keep it to herself, and it wouldn't be a burden – it would be just like this, a warm secret centring joy. And even though she knew she should be afraid for him, all she could think was, _my Merlin, of course_ and all she could feel was pride.


	7. Safe as Houses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur/Gwen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For slightlytookish's prompt: "Gwen, Tom, home" at a camelot-fleet party.

"Your job is safe, and your home is yours for life," he'd said, and though on that day she could only feel grief, she looks back on it now as the moment she started to trust him, to know she could always speak the truth when he needed to hear it. His word has kept her safe as castle walls in all the years since. Still, there are days she wishes she'd never known him, when all she wants is to go back to the warmth of the little room behind the smithy and the comfort of her father's arms.


	8. And Give a Taste to Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin and Morgana

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Mia's prompt "Morgana, Merlin, apples" at a camelot-fleet party.

She couldn't understand at first why he should be different from any other servant boy, why being in his presence felt like slipping at the edge of sleep, not clinging to Gwen's calm comfort but letting go, sinking deep. And for the first time she _wants_ to go down, to meet the woman from her dreams with her eyes open, her mind answering and aware. She looks at Merlin now and her mouth waters, like looking at the one tree in the garden where she's not allowed to eat. He looks at her like she's a serpent ready to strike.


	9. Souvenirs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur/Gwen + Merlin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing-game prompt: Kitchenware.

What with the excitement of Arthur being in danger and Arthur not sacking her for telling him the truth and then Arthur being in danger again the next day, Gwen hadn't given another thought to the plates he'd apparently borrowed from the castle kitchens. Only after he was safe and she was alone again she realized that he'd left her in possession not only of plates and cutlery – which could be returned easily enough – but also a second mattress, which had not been in her back room before. Which had not been in her home since before her father died.


	10. Dandelion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gwen/Merlin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing-game prompt: Dandelion

"But that's a weed," Gwen blurted, and bit her tongue as soon as she saw Merlin's face. It felt like she'd kicked a puppy.

"I'm sorry," he stammered

"No, it's lovely!" She took it from him and smiled. It didn't help.

"I didn't mean anything by it, I just thought of you, with your yellow dress, and I wanted to thank you, for the other day, and what you said, and I–"

"_Merlin_," said Gwen. "_I'm_ sorry, I misspoke. A weed's just a plant in the wrong place, after all, and dandelions can be a nuisance once they've gone to seed. But you've picked it just in time, see? And _this_–" she tucked it into her hair – "is just the right place for it. Thank you."

Merlin's face lit up. "It's all right then?"

"It's perfect." And to prove that she meant it she kissed him on the cheek. Merlin grinned stupidly for a few moments and then wandered off without another word.

"Too soon," Gwen sighed. She'd been living like a flower out of place for years, but since he showed up she'd started to think… Ah well, maybe it was just her timing that was wrong.


	11. Noticing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur/Morgana + Gwen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing-game prompts: Sister, Surprise

Morgana had thought of herself as Arthur's sister for so long, at first she didn't even understand the hints her maid was dropping.

"The Lady Beverley will be here this week," said Gwen, "but don't worry, she's already spoken for."

"Why should I worry?"

"That's just what I said." Gwen smiled awkwardly. "You shouldn't."

"The blue gown," Gwen said another time, "he doesn't even realise, but that one's his favourite. You can tell by–"

Gwen cut herself off, but that evening Morgana caught Arthur watching – and not just staring at her breasts the way he'd started doing when they were fourteen and kept on until (she found out later) Morgana's nurse had a word with Uther, who got Gaius to have a word with Arthur. Anyhow, that night was different. He wasn't paying attention to any one part of her body, or her dress. He was watching her, her mood, her way of moving. It made her want to move more, to talk, to be interesting, moody…dangerous. Not the pretty ornament Uther liked to put on display, but a person who was worth watching.

When Arthur smirked at her, she was surprised to realise she'd been staring too.


	12. A Drink Before the War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin &amp; Morgana, implied character death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the ["Last Supper" bonus challenge](http://summerpornathon.livejournal.com/79235.html) at summerpornathon 2012.

No more elaborate schemes. No more spells for mind control, no enchanted artifacts. Morgana understands now: if she wants to hurt Arthur, she needs to kill Merlin first. Conveniently enough, she's been wanting to murder the little bastard for years.

"Have some water," she says, pulling up on his chin with her fingers and forcing the waterskin inside his mouth. "Not thirsty, you say?" though he's not saying anything, just spluttering incoherently, straining at the ropes, trying to jerk away. "Well I don't care. Here, _have some before I finish_." She pours the poison down his throat until he swallows.


End file.
